


The Sadness of Episode 6

by ArgentDandelion



Category: Kill la Kill (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Character Study, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Gen, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2020-11-02 11:15:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20727308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArgentDandelion/pseuds/ArgentDandelion
Summary: Analyzes the underlying sadness of the sixth episode of Kill la Kill, "Don't Toy with Me on a Whim".





	The Sadness of Episode 6

The Sadness of Episode 6

Satsuki destroyed her teacup to attack Sanageyama. Her butler Soroi later reveals it was her favorite. There’s a lingering shot on the destroyed remains of the teacup, drawing attention to its broken state. (This is probably to make the viewer sad or full of pity.)

> **Satsuki**: “I’m sorry about the cup, Soroi.”
> 
> **Soroi**: “Oh, not at all, miss. It is a shame, though. It _was_ your favorite.”

This can be interpreted as either subtle foreshadowing of… Sanageyama having his “special eyes” stitched shut or just the first example of this episode’s theme of people sacrificing things that are dear to them in pursuit of greater strength.

The characters themselves don’t seem bothered by the sacrifices they make, but the music and shots imply sadness.

> **Satsuki**: “Do as you wish [in fighting Ryuko Matoi]. See what happens.”
> 
> **Sanageyama**: “Thanks. I appreciate it. And when I win, maybe we can have tea or something.”

Later, after Sanageyama has his eyes stitched shut and nearly defeats/kills Ryuko:

> **Satsuki**: Have some tea. As per our agreement.“
> 
> **Sanageyama**: "Thanks milady, but I’ll pass. All my senses are in overdrive now—so my tongue can’t take the heat.”

Satsuki never actually made an “agreement” with Sanageyama to have tea after he beat Ryuko. Nonetheless, she is pleased with Sanageyama’s resolve and acts as if she did make an agreement with him. (She smiles as she does this.) However, without the use of his eyes, Sanageyama’s remaining senses “went into overdrive”, including (apparently) his sense of temperature. Thus, the tea he looked forward to having with Satsuki is now too hot for him to drink.

This episode is sad because Sanageyama sacrificed so much to defeat Ryuko that he can no longer enjoy things that made him happy: namely, tea-drinking and Satsuki’s regard. While his enhanced senses don’t prevent him from enjoying Satsuki’s esteem of him, Satsuki probably won’t participate in social bonding activities unless she has a reasonable-sounding pretext. Since Sanageyama can no longer enjoy tea, he deprived himself of an opportunity to enjoy Satsuki’s company.

It’s similar to a person that chooses to become vegetarian coming back to their family on Thanksgiving. Despite fond memories of eating turkey, or more specifically family bonding over turkey-eating, they are now unable to bear eating meat and as such deprive themselves of bonding with the family over turkey-eating. (We’ll assume, for this sake of this analogy, that the family believes eating turkey is a sacred part of Thanksgiving, whoever cooks the turkey puts a lot of effort into it, and that the vegetarian would feel like an outsider to the family by their avoidance of eating turkey.)

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on my [Tumblr](https://argentdandelion.tumblr.com/). Feel free to comment on this article there or here.


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